Restaurant is working to collect 1,010 signatures by Friday to change 70-year-old downtown city statute

By Bryan Kirk |
July 15, 2014
| Updated: July 15, 2014 2:25pm

David Tague, left, and Laura Wilson, try to convince Tomball resident Billy Smith to sign their petition to change a city statue limiting liquor sales.

Photo By Joe Holley

Restaurateur Laura Wilson is campaigning to repeal a 1944 city ordinance that bans the serving of distilled spirits in Old Town Tomball. "We're just trying to serve a real margarita," says Wilson, the co-owner of a Mexican restaurant.

Photo By courtesy

Laura Wilson, co-owner of Cisco's Salsa Company in Old Town Tomball, has started a petition to overturn a 1944 city ordinance limiting alcohol content in beverages in an eight-block area of Tomball. She hopes to have the issue on the November ballot.

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Liquor law

A local businesswoman in Tomball is circulating a petition to repeal a 70-year old statute that regulates the sale of alcohol with a volume of 14 percent or more. If 1,010 legitimate signatures are collected by July 18, the item could be on the Nov. 4 ballot:

1944: The city council enacts strict liquor law.

2011: Cisco's Salsa Co. opens its doors in downtown Tomball.

January 2014: Cisco's sought to generate signatures to try and get on the May ballot, but started the process too late. Receives backing of Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce.

June: Cisco's begins collecting signatures inside restaurant.

July 1: Cisco's starts going door-to-door and speaking with registered voters about the ordinance. Walks continued July 2 and July 5 and through the week leading to July 18.

July 18: The signatures of registered voters are due to the city secretary for verification.

August: Petitions are to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice to determine if the proposal can be placed on the ballot.

A locally-owned restaurant in Tomball is working to ensure that a 1944 statute which imposes strict regulations on the sale of alcohol in certain segments of the city is repealed.

Laura Wilson, who co-owns the popular Cisco's Salsa Co. located near the historic Tomball Depot, has started a petition to have the issue placed on the November ballot.

"We got quite a few signatures just from our customers coming in," she said.

Wilson, who with a few supporters is working to collect 1,010 signatures by July 18, began walking door-to-door on July 1 and speaking with registered voters about the ordinance and asking for their support to repeal the 70-year old statute, which says that businesses and restaurants in downtown Tomball are not allowed to serve alcohol with an alcohol volume of 14 percent or more, which limits the sale to just wine or beer.

Barbara Tague, who serves on the city's planning and zoning commission, sent out emails asking for support, and took to the streets with Wilson to gain the needed signatures.

"For us to keep progressing with retail and economic development in downtown Tomball, we need to make sure the regulations are uniform. It's only fair that everyone be subjected to the same ordinances," she said.

In the early 1940s, Tomball was a typical small Texas town with its share of brothels and bars that populated the historic depot area on and around Commerce Street.

Seeing alcohol as the culprit, the city council at that time implemented stricter guidelines in downtown Tomball.

Although the statute is often referred to as an ordinance, that's not the case.

"There is no ordinance," said City Secretary Doris Speer. "The 14 percent alcoholic content was mandated as a result of the 1944 local option election."

As a result, a petition is needed in order to have the item placed on a ballot. Otherwise, the city council could just approve the ordinance change.

Cisco's Salsa Co. does serve margaritas and other mixed drinks, but to do that Wilson had to apply for a private club license, which is expensive and difficult to manage.

"It becomes expensive the more popular you become," she said. "As more people come in, we have to pay for more people to use our membership."

It's also very paperwork intensive, Wilson said.

Each time someone orders an alcoholic beverage that contains distilled spirits, such as bourbon or tequila, the customer must provide a valid identification, no matter what their age.

The customer is then told they have to become a member of the club at Cisco's to partake in drinking an alcoholic beverage. The patron's ID is scanned electronically and a printout must then be signed which grants the customer a three-day temporary membership.

Wilson said servers spend too much time having to explain the dry statute and the process to customers, which hurts business.

The areas of downtown depicted on an old city map can also be confusing when trying to enforce the liquor law.

Tomball Police Chief Robert Hauck said he'd like to see the statute repealed, because it is obscure and prohibits consistency across the city.

"Something obviously drove this law to be implemented, but my expectation is that changing this law to be consistent with everywhere else is not going to impact the community in a negative way," Hauck said. "It will certainly make it more consistent for enforcement across the city."

Like Stoll, Degges said the statute has limited business in Tomball for far too long.

"Businesses should not be penalized," Degges said. "The paperwork that is required (of Ciscos) is onerous and unfair."

Neither Degges nor Stoll have seen any of the block walkers with the petition in their neighborhood, but indicated that they'd gladly add their names, if they are asked.

Once the signatures are verified by the city secretary, the petition will be sent to the U.S. Department of Justice for its review. Federal approval will allow the city to place the item on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Meanwhile, Wilson said she wants her restaurant to be subjected to the same rules as others in Tomball.

"We just want to be a really good restaurant in Old Town Tomball," she said. "We want to focus on good food and good service."